When Demetrius heard that Nicanor and his army
had fallen in battle, he again sent Bacchides and Alcimus into the land of
Judah, along with the right wing of his army.

2

1 They took the road to Galilee, and camping
opposite the ascent at Arbela, they captured it and killed many people.

3

2 In the first month of the year one hundred and
fifty-two, they encamped against Jerusalem.

4

Then they set out for Berea with twenty
thousand men and two thousand cavalry.

5

Judas, with three thousand picked men, had
camped at Elasa.

6

When his men saw the great number of the
troops, they were very much afraid, and many slipped away from the camp, until
only eight hundred men remained.

7

As Judas saw that his army was melting away
just when the battle was imminent, he was panic-stricken, because he had no
time to gather them together.

8

But in spite of his discouragement, he said to
those who remained: "Let us go forward to meet our enemies; perhaps we can
put up a good fight against them."

9

They tried to dissuade him, saying: "We
certainly cannot. Let us save our lives now, and come back with our kinsmen,
and then fight against them. Now we are too few."

10

But Judas said: "Far be it from me to do
such a thing as to flee from them! If our time has come, let us die bravely for
our kinsmen and not leave a stain upon our glory!"

11

Then the army of Bacchides moved out of camp
and took its position for combat. The cavalry were divided into two squadrons,
and the slingers and the archers came on ahead of the army, and all the valiant
men were in the front line.

12

Bacchides was on the right wing. Flanked by the
two squadrons, the phalanx attacked as they blew their trumpets. Those who were
on Judas' side also blew their trumpets.

13

The earth shook with the noise of the armies,
and the battle raged from morning until evening.

14

Seeing that Bacchides was on the right, with
the main force of his army, Judas, with all the most stouthearted rallying to
him,

15

3 drove back the right wing and pursued them as
far as the mountain slopes.

16

But when the men on the left wing saw that the
right wing was driven back, they turned and followed Judas and his men, taking
them in the rear.

17

The battle was fought desperately, and many on
both sides fell wounded.

18

Then Judas fell, and the rest fled.

19

Jonathan and Simon took their brother Judas and
buried him in the tomb of their fathers at Modein.

20

All Israel bewailed him in great grief. They
mourned for him many days, and they said,

21

"How the mighty one has fallen, the savior
of Israel!"

22

The other acts of Judas, his battles, the brave
deeds he performed, and his greatness have not been recorded; but they were
very many.

23

After the death of Judas, the transgressors of
the law raised their heads in every part of Israel, and all kinds of evildoers
appeared.

24

In those days there was a very great famine,
and the country deserted to them.

25

Bacchides chose impious men and made them
masters of the country.

26

These sought out and hunted down the friends of
Judas and brought them to Bacchides, who punished and derided them.

27

There had not been such great distress in
Israel since the time prophets ceased to appear among the people.

28

Then all the friends of Judas came together and
said to Jonathan:

29

"Since your brother Judas died, there has
been no one like him to oppose our enemies, Bacchides and those who are hostile
to our nation.

30

Now therefore we have chosen you today to be
our ruler and leader in his place, and to fight our battle."

31

From that moment Jonathan accepted the
leadership, and took the place of Judas his brother.

32

When Bacchides learned of it, he sought to kill
him.

33

4 But Jonathan and his brother Simon and all the
men with him discovered this, and they fled to the desert of Tekoa and camped
by the waters of the pool of Asphar.

6 Jonathan sent his brother as leader of the
convoy to ask permission of his friends, the Nabateans, to deposit with them
their great quantity of baggage.

36

7 But the sons of Jambri from Medaba made a raid
and seized and carried off John and everything he had.

37

After this, word was brought to Jonathan and
his brother Simon: "The sons of Jambri are celebrating a great wedding,
and with a large escort they are bringing the bride, the daughter of one of the
great princes of Canaan, from Nadabath."

38

Remembering the blood of John their brother,
they went up and hid themselves under cover of the mountain.

39

They watched, and suddenly saw a noisy crowd
with baggage; the bridegroom and his friends and kinsmen had come out to meet
the bride's party with tambourines and musicians and much equipment.

40

The Jews rose up against them from their ambush
and killed them. Many fell wounded, and after the survivors fled toward the
mountain, all their spoils were taken.

41

Thus the wedding was turned into mourning, and
the sound of music into lamentation.

42

Having taken their revenge for the blood of
their brother, the Jews returned to the marshes of the Jordan.

43

When Bacchides heard of it, he came on the
sabbath to the banks of the Jordan with a large force.

44

Then Jonathan said to his companions, "Let
us get up now and fight for our lives, for today is not like yesterday and the
day before.

45

8 The battle is before us, and behind us are the
waters of the Jordan on one side, marsh and thickets on the other, and there is
no way of escape.

46

Cry out now to Heaven for deliverance from our
enemies."

47

When they joined battle, Jonathan raised his
arm to strike Bacchides, but Bacchides backed away from him.

48

Jonathan and his men jumped into the Jordan and
swam across to the other side, but the enemy did not pursue them across the
Jordan.

49

A thousand men on Bacchides' side fell that
day.

50

9 On returning to Jerusalem, Bacchides built
strongholds in Judea: the Jericho fortress, as well as Emmaus, Beth-horon,
Bethel, Timnath, Pharathon, and Tephon, with high walls and gates and bars.

51

In each he put a garrison to oppose Israel.

52

He fortified the city of Beth-zur, Gazara and
the citadel, and put soldiers in them and stores of provisions.

53

He took as hostages the sons of the leaders of
the country and put them in custody in the citadel at Jerusalem.

54

10 In the year one hundred and fifty-three, in
the second month, Alcimus ordered the wall of the inner court of the sanctuary
to be torn down, thus destroying the work of the prophets. But he only began to
tear it down.

55

Just at that time he had a stroke, and his work
was interrupted; his mouth was closed and he was paralyzed, so that he could no
longer utter a word to give orders concerning his house.

56

Finally he died in great agony.

57

Seeing that Alcimus was dead, Bacchides
returned to the king, and the land of Judah was quiet for two years. Bacchides
and Jonathan

58

Then all the transgressors of the law held a
council and said: "Jonathan and his companions are living in peace and
security. Now then, let us have Bacchides return, and he will capture all of
them in a single night."

59

So they went and took counsel with him.

60

When Bacchides was setting out with a large
force, he sent letters secretly to all his allies in Judea, telling them to
seize Jonathan and his companions. They were not able to do this, however,
because their plot became known.

61

In fact, Jonathan's men seized about fifty of
the men of the country who were ringleaders in the mischief and put them to
death.

62

11 Then Jonathan and Simon and their companions
withdrew to Bethbasi in the desert; they rebuilt and strengthened its fortifications
that had been demolished.

63

When Bacchides learned of this, he gathered
together his whole force and sent word to those who were in Judea.

64

He came and pitched his camp before Bethbasi,
and constructing siege-machines, he fought against it for many days.

65

Leaving his brother Simon in the city,
Jonathan, accompanied by a small group of men, went out into the field.

66

He struck down Odomera and his kinsmen and the
sons of Phasiron in their encampment; these men had set out to go up to the
siege with their forces.

67

Simon and his men then sallied forth from the
city and set fire to the machines.

68

They fought against Bacchides, and he was
beaten. This caused him great distress. Because the enterprise he had planned
came to nought,

69

he was angry with the lawless men who had
advised him to invade the province. He killed many of them and resolved to
return to his own country.

70

Jonathan learned of this and sent ambassadors
to make peace with him and to obtain the release of the prisoners.

71

He agreed to do as Jonathan had asked. He swore
an oath to him that he would never try to injure him for the rest of his life;

72

and he released the prisoners he had previously
taken from the land of Judah. He returned to his own country and never came
into their territory again.

73

12 Then the sword ceased in Israel. Jonathan
settled in Michmash; he began to judge the people and he destroyed the impious
in Israel.

1 [2] They took the road . . .
Arbela, they captured it: This passage is restored, in part, by conjectural
emendation. The present Greek text could be translated, "They took the
road to Gilgal, and camping opposite Mesaloth at Arbela,
they captured it." But Arbela (modern Khirbet
Irbid) was in Galilee - on a high hill overlooking the
western shore of the Sea of Galilee. Gilgal, on the
contrary, was in the Jordan valley near Jericho. "Mesaloth" is
probably a corrupt form of a Hebrew word meaning "steps, ascent."

2 [3] The first month of the year one
hundred and fifty-two: April/May 160 B.C., by the temple calendar.

3 [15] As far as the mountain slopes:
conjectural emendation. The Greek text has "as far as Mount Azotus";
this is most unlikely. Apparently the Greek translator mistook the Hebrew word
ashd't, "slopes," for a shd'd, "Azotus."

4 [33] Tekoa: home of the prophet
Amos in the wild country above the Dead Sea, southeast of Jerusalem.

11 [62] Bethbasi: two miles east of
Bethlehem and six miles north of Tekoa.

12 [73] Began to judge: exercise the
governing authority as in the book of Judges. With Jerusalem and the garrison
towns (⇒ 1 Macc 9:50) firmly in Seleucid hands,
Jonathan's freedom of action was greatly restricted. Michmash, southeast of
Bethel, famous for the exploit of the former Jonathan, son of Saul; cf 1 Sam
14.